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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Craving something yeasty, buttery and deep-fried? Silly question. The correct answer is ALWAYS! As if doughnuts (by the way, none of that 'donut' spelling around here, please!) needed additional oomph, these ones are made from a super-easy rich brioche dough that's packed with egg yolks, rum and butter making these babies as light as air and full of flavour!

Incase you can't tell, I had a ridiculous amount of fun making these! While kneading the dough, all I could think of was colour schemes and glitter - oooh and sprinkles! Maybe silver - no gold! Pink with the blue or no wait, how about swirly frosting! I dug up every sprinkle, pot of glitter and food colouring I could find (unrelated side note: anyone know how to remove that edible glitter off clothing?!).

Besides doughnuts, you could use this dough recipe for a few different things; here in South Africa we have big puffy round doughnuts without holes called 'Vetkoek' (literally translated means 'fat cakes') which we fill with jam or savoury mince. You could make them similiarly (without the holes) and pipe jam, Nutella or buttercream inside. Dredge them in cinnamon-sugar, cover them in chocolate - oooo or dip them in caramelized white chocolate!

Glazed brioche doughnutsMakes 24200ml milk50g fresh yeast (10g instant yeast)4 large eggs1kg cake flour100g butter, softened100g castor sugar50g honeypinch of saltFinely grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon4 egg yolks50ml rumVegetable oil, for deep-fryingGLAZE275g icing sugar, siftedFew drops lemon juiceFood colourings of your choice1-2 tbsp hot waterSprinkles, to decoratePlace the milk and yeast in the bowl of a mixer and stir to dissolve. Add the eggs, flour, butter, sugar, honey, salt and zest. Using a dough hook, knead the dough for 8-10 minutes or until a soft, smooth dough forms. Cover with clingfilm and allow to rest for 15 minutes.Mix in the egg yolks and rum then cover again and allow to rise in a warm place until puffy and doubled in size. Knock the air out of the dough by kneading it gently then roll out on a lightly floured surface until 1 cm thick. Using a 7cm round cutter (or drinking glass) cut out rounds from the dough, then cut out a smaller hole from the middle (I use the back of a large piping nozzle for this). Place the doughnuts on a floured baking tray and cover with greased clingfilm. Prove in a warm place until doubled in size and puffy.TIP: For best results I preheat my oven to about 50 degrees celcius and place a large dish of boiling water in the bottom of the oven then I place my covered tray of doughnuts in the warm humid oven to prove. Preheat the oil to 180 degrees celscius (or when a cube of bread dropped into the oil turns brown in 10 seconds) and place the doughnuts upside down in the hot oil. Fry on one side for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown, then flip over and cook the other side. Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen towel. Allow to cool. TIP: At this stage you can dredge them in cinnamon-sugar - while they're still hot!Make the glaze by mixing the icing sugar with the lemon juice, colouring and enough hot water to form a paste that runs slightly. Dip the tops of the doughnuts in the glaze, allowing most of the glaze to run off before placing on a wire rack. Decorate with sprinkles and allow to set. Enjoy on the same day (why am I even telling you that, they'll be gone in one day!)